WHS Plastics Minworth and Larkhall have recently supported National Manufacturing Day. The day involved inviting in a number of local schools to a behind the scenes view of day-to-day manufacturing. The pupils who ranged in age from 9 to 16 managed to view and interact with the key areas from our business, the tour started with a presentation from the associated Plant Directors who gave an overview of their facilities. This was then followed up with an organised tour around the sites visiting Design, New Product Introduction, various manufacturing techniques and finally an open hall where the pupils could investigate 3D printing, example vehicles, games, 3D scanning/measurements, laser etching and controlling a cobot. The day was a massive success with the pupils going away excited with what Manufacturing could offer them in the future. See some comments below from those that attended:
“The trip to WHS Plastics provided lots of information about plastic manufacturing through many engaging activities. The company, based in Birmingham, designs and develops high-quality ‘technical’ plastic components, assemblies and systems. Highlights included creating a 3D hand scan of our hand, laser etching our initials on power banks, and exploring 3D printing. Although the timeframe for the trip wasn’t that long, we managed to see car part production, product designers at work, and plastics being painted. The well-organized event offered DT students a chance to expand their DT knowledge and look into a possible career path.”
“On Thursday 26th September 2024 year 10 DT students were invited to WHS Plas-tics. This day trip included a tour of the site and fun activities like coding a robot. The days started with an introduction which mentioned that WHS Plastics (founded in 1933) is a business wholly owned by the Smith family and that they manufacture plastic injection moulded, painted and assembled products for many automobile manufactures e.g. Jaguar Land Rover.
After the introduction we started the tour and got to see where WHS used their plastic injection and where they painted the automotive interiors. We saw that melted plastic was injected via a nozzle in-between 2 platens. Then cold water was used to cool down the plastic and one of the platens move away so the robot could take the plastic down to the workers. Then in Site 3 we saw how WHS had painted the products by having 6 stations where car parts are painted.
In the tech area there were lots of different stations which consisted of using laser etching to inscribe your name on a power bank, learning how to code a robot, playing with illusion toys which were made by 3d printers and how cameras were used to help make sure all components are in the right place.
Once we finished the tour we got a fidget toy and gift bags with note pads, a bottle and a lanyard inside. Overall the trip was a fun experience, and we are happy to have been able to attend this trip.”
